Down Angle Symbol A symbol in the form of an angle pointing downwards. A group of Chinese people claimed to work for a television station and called on YouTuber Brendan Kavanagh to remove their likeness from his channel. Brendan Kavanagh/YouTube
- A pianist's livestream went viral after a group of Chinese people insisted he cover their faces.
- The confrontation escalated into shouting as the pianist protested and the group became angry.
- Brendan Kavanagh told BI that he was filming in a train station and had the right to stream publicly.
A confrontation between a group of Chinese people and a pianist in a London train station has gone viral on YouTube.
Pianist Brendan Kavanagh, who has around 2.19 million subscribers on YouTube, started a livestream on Friday with a cameraman at a public piano at St Pancras International station.
“Today it was very, very cold in London, it was minus four degrees. But someone stuck purple balloons on the piano, so it's fine,” Kavanagh joked before starting to play.
In the background of the video, a group of about six people can be seen holding flags of the People's Republic of China and yellow leaves. One of them, a woman, stepped forward with her cell phone to film Kavanagh playing with another pianist.
When his fellow pianist took over soloing, Kavanagh asked another woman in the group if she would like to dance to the music, but she declined.
Minutes later, Kavanagh was approached by the group. The ensuing 10-minute interaction was recorded in full and streamed live by Kavanagh.
“We are filming here for Chinese television. “Did you film us all with your cameras?” asked the woman who filmed him.
Business Insider could not immediately confirm her claim that she works for Chinese television.
Kavanagh is approached by the group who says she works for Chinese television. Brendan Kavanagh/YouTube
Kavanagh said he wasn't sure his camera captured their faces. “We're not allowed, it's forbidden, we're not allowed?” he asked.
“We’re not allowed because we’re for Chinese television,” the woman replied.
Kavanagh protested, saying he was live streaming in a public place.
A man in the group told him that they would protect their rights to their “voice and images,” later adding that the group had made “an agreement with other people” not to show their faces online.
The man continued to threaten legal action.
Kavanagh continued to argue. “We're in a free country, we're not in communist China now, you know?” he said.
“I’m sorry, that’s racist now,” the man replied.
When Kavanagh reached for a flag that one of the women was carrying, the man began yelling at him not to touch it.
Kavanagh reacts when the man behind the camera shouts at him and accuses him of touching one of the women. Brendan Kavanagh/YouTube
“You are not your private security guard”
Shortly afterwards, two police officers arrived and the group explained their complaints.
“You are in a public place,” one of the officers could be heard saying on the livestream. “If they are filming, they have the right to do it in a public place.”
The other officer told Kavanagh to stop filming and that he was “not allowed to post this on your YouTube channel as it was a police matter.” Kavanagh's cameraman continued filming.
Police then spoke to the group off camera. The official who had ordered Kavanagh to close his livestream later returned.
Kavanagh told BI that he knew the officer because he played regularly at St Pancras International. Brendan Kavanagh/YouTube
She said the group asked Kavanagh not to use footage of them on his YouTube channel. “Because this is how money is made, they work for a company and their faces are not allowed to be shown on television or any other channel,” the official said.
Kavanagh refused. “You are not their private security guard,” he said.
The officer also said the group accused Kavanagh of making racist comments and said he tried to indecently touch one of them.
“Listen, they’re waving a communist flag and I said you’re waving a communist flag,” Kavanagh said. “Is that racist?”
Kavanagh's encounter goes viral
Kavanagh told BI the group may have been offended when he incorrectly called them a Japanese TV crew at the start of his live stream.
The YouTuber said he knew a friend who was filming nearby with a Japanese TV station and had initially assumed the Chinese group was also part of the same team.
His video was viewed 3.5 million times as of Monday evening, three days after the livestream ended. It has that too went viral on X.
Excerpts of the encounter were posted on Weibo, a popular Chinese social media platform, where the group was also criticized.
Kavanagh said it was ironic that by trying to remove their images from his video, the group went viral instead. “This is a classic Streisand effect video,” he said, meaning that a person who tries to hide from the public becomes more prominent through their efforts.
Kavanagh said the online backlash was also directed at the officer who told him to stop filming.
“I think her behavior was completely inappropriate,” Kavanagh said.
British Transport Police did not respond to BI's multiple requests for comment.
Under British law, people are allowed to film in public and police have no power to stop it.
Kavanagh also reiterated his stance not to make any controversial comments towards the group.
Personal image rights have been a flashpoint in China recently after a former state-owned company executive went viral in June for being filmed holding hands in public with a woman who was not his wife.
China's Civil Code states that everyone has the legal right to their image and likeness, which cannot be published online without their consent. There is no such blanket protection in the UK.
Kavanagh showed BI an email from YouTube stating that a privacy complaint had been filed against his video and that the content was being reviewed.
“But now millions of people have seen it,” he said.
The Chinese Embassy in London and Google did not respond to BI's requests for comment.